KDSG rolls out N150m overseas scholarship for 29 medical students

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Kaduna state government yesterday awarded overseas scholarship to the first 29 students in the state to complete their medical training at the Kampala International University, Uganda for a period of three and a half years.

The state governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, while flagging-off the scholarship scheme, said the award became necessary because the last time the state awarded any overseas scholarship was in the 1982, during the administration Alhaji Balarabe Musa.

Yero called on beneficiaries to remain focused in their studies while in Uganda and also adviced them to remain good ambassadors of Kaduna state and Nigeria, by shunning all negative vices, including cultism, drug abuse, crime and indiscipline.

“When the state University established the Faculty of Medicine in 2008, the objective was to raise a crop of medical doctors to provide the needed manpower for our hospitals and provide the needed health care. The policy of the University has been to restrict admission into the Faculty of Medicine to Kaduna state indigenes.

“The overall objective of this effort is to re-build the damaged sector and to re-engineer a new transformation of the state.

“In order to reverse this situation, Government identified specific areas of manpower shortages, which include Medical Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture, and Urban Design amongst others and is working with the Committee to address the trend.

“Meanwhile, it may be necessary to periodically review these policies to meet the aspirations of our people. We are hopeful on turning around our civil service, industries and indeed building a highly mobilized work force. In this respect, we need support from all because Kaduna State is ours and each one has a role to play in its development.

“As we begin a new phase of transformation of the State, it is clear that we need to be strategic and goal oriented in order to make effective use of our scarce resources,” Yero said.